12 Things That Will Be Less Expensive in 2015

The Great Recession may have technically ended over five years ago, but that's probably a surprise to millions of Americans still worrying about their budgets. A modicum of relief is on the way in 2015, as prices fall on some popular goods and services — including one major necessity that affects many others: gas.

For this reason, too, pay-TV providers are increasingly looking to lure the "cord shaving" crowd, offering cheaper bundles with fewer channels at low prices in the hopes that these customers will eventually upgrade. And some even say that cable bundles might be the better deal, as a la carte TV options can add up, making cable bundles the better deal in some cases. So weigh your options before embarking on winter binge-watching. (Check out our feature on cable-cutting myths.)

4K TVs

This Black Friday, DealNews saw super-cheap prices for Ultra HD 4K TVs, ranging in price from $375 to $1,300. (Keep in mind that in 2013, prices were in the $5,000 to $7,000 range, and $1,099 was the lowest price.) These TVs that offer a 3840x2160 pixel resolution are hailed as the next big thing, and as they become more popular, prices can be expected to drop. (Remember when VCRs were expensive? Remember VCRs?)

Smartphones

By the end of 2015, LTE smartphones are expected to be as cheap as $60, even before subsidies. The global growth of smartphone sales is slowing, according to a forecast from International Data Corporation, meaning competitive pricing and lower prices. Those looking for smartphones for less than $200 can also expect more for their money, including HD screens.

Smartwatches

The much-anticipated Apple Watch is set for release in early 2015, at a price of $349 to potentially thousands, and an estimated 10% of consumers report that they're considering buying one. If you're looking to spend less, technology research firm Gartner predicts that smartwatches will make up to 40% of wrist-worn devices by 2016 and the increased demand for wearable tech will cause prices from some manufacturers to drop below $150. In fact, some smartwatches could be as cheap as $30 in 2015, and Chinese company Xiaomi sells a fitness tracker for only $13.

Tech Gear (like GPS Devices and Software)

Speaking of China, after negotiations at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing in November, tariffs that have added 25% to the cost of tech products in the United States could be a thing of the past. According to a White House statement, more than 200 tariffs will be eliminated, potentially affecting the prices of medical equipment, GPS devices, computer software, and video game consoles. We'll most likely see lower prices on products manufactured in China, possibly even Apple products.

Video Game Consoles

As a special holiday promotion, the retail price of the Xbox One dropped from $399 to $349 through January 3, 2015. During Black Friday, we saw a lot of Xbox One and PlayStation 4 deals for even less; in fact, the Xbox outsold the PS4 because of these deals, and we suspect Microsoft will be hesitant to inflate that price back up again. And even if they do, retailers might be forced to continue offering deals if customers are now accustomed to the lower price point. Plus, with the recent trade agreement between the United States and China expected to reduce prices of video game consoles, it's a safe bet that gaming systems will cost less in 2015.

Kia Forte

The 2015 model of the Kia Forte is $10 less than last year's model, making it cheaper than the Nissan Sentra. And if $10 in savings doesn't sound significant, keep in mind that this makes the Forte officially the year's least expensive compact car.

Josie Rubio is a Brooklyn, New York-based freelance editor and writer. She has visited five continents so far and loves to write about travel, food, nutrition, health... and pretty much everything. Follow her on Twitter at @JosieRubio.

DealNews may be compensated by companies mentioned in this article.
Please note that, although prices sometimes fluctuate or expire
unexpectedly, all products and deals mentioned in this feature were
available at the lowest total price we could find at the time of
publication (unless otherwise specified).

You might also like

5 comments

Scroogus Maximus

With the elimination of tariffs on cheap Chinese goods, which are made cheap by paying Chinese workers almost nothing and using throwaway production methods, expect the market to flood with cheap (Cheap="inexpensive" and "low quality"...what, you expect good quality from someone paid $1.16/hour?) versions of everything that doesn't work in a power outage during a storm.

Tire prices won't drop because the prices paid for inventory were contracted out 6-12 months ago, when prices were high. Despite what consumers believe, commodity prices are neither instant nor market-responsive on a daily-basis, what's-on-my-iPad level. Goods & services are purchased en masse in huge buys, but most of those buys are negotiated by lawyers (insert obvious joke here) months in advance of when those items reach the shelves. Electronics are the most market-sensitive items because of the turnover and rapid-fire improvements; almost nothing else has such a quick price-change pattern.

@SarahM : tire prices were driven up to insane levels by a tariff designed to block Chinese imports and still haven't recovered even though I believe the tariff has expired. Check out Planet Money podcast #467 (and earlier mentions in eps 55 & 94)

Pay-tv providers piss me off so bad with the bundling. All I want is like 7 channels, and I'd gladly pay 50 a month for those channels, but they break them out into separate packages, so in order to get all 7 of those channels in my subscription, I would need to pay 160 and have 260 worthless channels. This is why people are cutting the cord. They want to watch what they want, when they want, and without the fluff in the middle.